Q & A: Mark Forshaw

Three questions to dr. Mark Forshaw

Q: What is your experience of the EuroPsy in your country?

A:  The UK as a whole has a rather fragmented view of European projects, as the Brexit phenomenon has shown. To speak of the UK’s experience is to gloss over some very different atittudes and opinions. That said, based on the statistics we have, and the anectodal evidence, the vast majority of those of us that the EuroPsy has relevance for are pro-European in outlook and supportive of attempts to unite people across the continent.
There was a steady stream of applications for EuroPsy during my time as a NAC Chair, from a range of applicants, some of whom had aspirations to widen their horizons to other nations in which to practice, and some of which were citizens of other European nations who wished to gain recognition for their work on a multinational platform. In the last few years, there has been a slowing of interest, and I personally would blame Brexit for that. Our country is in a very unique and uncomfortable position right now, and that means that the future for collaboration and the mobility of citizens and their qualifications remains in doubt. If global banks and corporations are in “wait and see” mode, then I can understand why individual psychologists might feel the same.  

Q: What attracted you to joining the EAC?

A:  As a dedicated European, who believes in looking outside my own borders, not simply reflecting inwardly on areas of practice I was already familiar with, I saw this as another opportunity to learn from others.
In equal measure I like to give what I can to support worthwhile ideas and to gain insights from the diversity that comes from drawing together psychologists with a great deal of expertise from a range of nations. Each of us has only one brain and one mind. If you put people who do the same things in the same way into a room together, you get the same old ideas. If you bring minds together which have been developed in different ways, you get new and exciting innovations. 

Q: What hopes do you have for the future of EuroPsy in Europe?  

A:  I would like to think that EuroPsy will prosper and develop, and become more widely known. It is probably fair to say that some psychologists do not yet know what it is or what it is for. This is despite the best efforts of everyone at EFPA and the EAC, and the member organisations in each nation state involved. As long as EuroPsy retains its relevance and currency, and some nations continue to have very high numbers of EuroPsy registered psychologists, it will flourish and grow. EuroPsy does not exist outside of those of us who sign up to it and make it what it is. It is the emblem of what social psychologists call an ‘imagined community’, the reification of a dream that we have that we can co-operate, that we share enormous amounts of cognitive territory and practical skill, and that we can all get along better together.   